


Titans East

by Dan_Ingram



Category: DCU (Comics)
Genre: F/F, F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-14
Updated: 2020-04-14
Packaged: 2021-03-02 05:35:42
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 16,625
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23650045
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dan_Ingram/pseuds/Dan_Ingram
Summary: Meet the most dysfunctional band of Titans yet, as they fight to save themselves, and everyone else!
Kudos: 4





	1. Chapter 1

**& &&**

**DC Infinity Presents**

**Titans East**

**Meet the Team**

**Issue 1**

**& &&**

**Statue of Liberty**

_This was supposed to be a simple bonding experience with my daughter and sister. See the Statue of Liberty. Buy a few trinkets. Memories for a lifetime._

Those thought rattled through Amanda Byrne as she huddled with over two dozen other hostages. The terrorist organization known as H.I.V.E came swooping down out of nowhere, armed with laser rifles and giant mechs colored like bees. Within minutes they’d seized the entire island, overpowering the police and began issuing demands.

Amanda Byrne clutched her daughter with one hand, and had her other hand resting on her service weapon. Amanda Byrne wasn’t your average New Yorker, but was an agent of the Department of Extranormal Operations, or DEO for short. The DEO acted as a liaison between the government, metas and the capes, in fact that was why Amanda was in New York.

As a member of the DEO, Amanda had read all the briefs on H.I.V.E, as they were a (albeit small) part of her current assignment. They were barely capable of acting as cannon fodder for the new Society, so what were they doing seizing Liberty Island, armed with flight packs, combat mechs and all other kinds of weapons that even the original H.I.V.E never had? How did they go from push-overs to attacking boldly New York? It was like seeing a street dealer take on the National Guard!

“You have no reason to fear!” squawked one member of HIVE. With their yellow helmets and identical suits, it was hard to tell which one was speaking. Amanda guessed that it was the HIVE member standing over the teenage…hero, but there was no way to be certain, “Once the world gives into our demands, you will be released unharmed!”

An arrow smashed into that particular HIVE member, and a half dozen more arrows landed all around, creating a thick cloud of smoke.

“I think we can make the same offer,” Roy Harper, AKA Red Arrow, shouted, “only you have to serve five to ten first. Titans, go!”

Amanda Byrne watched in shock and awe as ten young heroes came crashing down out of the sky, and slammed into HIVE like a runaway freight train. For a moment, it was breath taking as the sheer power of the young heroes overwhelmed the heavily armed men. They had enough weapons to match a small army, but were no match for the Titans themselves.

But as she watched, Amanda was vividly reminded that she was watching mere children battle terrorists.

**Red Arrow and Captain Boomerang**

Roy let loose three arrows, and struck down five HIVE agents, including one that had been standing over one of his teammates slash responsibility.

“Up and at ‘em!” Red Arrow barked. 

Owen Mercer, the second Captain Boomerang, grunted as he stood up. Red Arrow handed him two bandoliers of boomerangs, and the teenage speedster threw them over his shoulder, and within seconds was filling the air with his signature weapons.

“About time you got here!” Owen snapped, “what, did you stop for lunch?”

Red Arrow sucker-punched a HIVE soldier that managed to get a little too close, and then turned to scowl at Captain Boomerang, “Actually, we busted tail when we heard a report about two villain groups attacking the Statue. One of those groups was said to be The Rogues. Any idea what that was about?”

“You said stall! I stalled!”

_Fifteen minutes earlier_

“What do you mean, stall?” Captain Boomerang pressed his back against the wall, as HIVA agents began rounding up all the tourists. He had his cell phone pressed against his head as if it were a lifeline, “I don’t have my boomerangs, remember?”

“Think of something!” Roy Harper shouted, “we’re en-route, but the jet isn’t fueled. Just buy time!”

“Okay, okay, you can do this,” Owen shoved his cell-phone in his pocket, slicked his hair back and took a deep breath that didn’t calm his nerves at all. He then strode towards three HIVE agents who were ‘escorting’ a small group of tourists into a makeshift holding area, “hey, what’s the big idea here?”

“…and who do you think you are?

“I’m Captain Boomerang!” Owen snapped, which was true, and then said, “and this is Rogue territory.”

Not even close.

The three HIVE agents looked at one another.

“Did Snart decide that?” asked one agent.

“Captain Cold did, yes,” Owen smiled smugly. They weren’t about to trip him up by using Cold’s real name, “so you mind telling me what the hell you’re doing on Rogue turf?”

“This went through the proper channels!” snarled the first HIVE agent as he approached. Captain Boomerang tried to think up some BS excuse, when the HIVE agent sucker-punched him in the gut, and then smacked Owen upside the head with his rifle, “also, the Rogues don’t give a damn about anything outside of Central City. I don’t know what kind of scam you’re pulling here kid, but I’ll make you regret it later.”

_Now_

Roy dodged a laser that nearly took his head off, and returned fire with two explosive arrows, “Did you even have a plan?”

Captain Boomerang let two of his signature weapons fly, nailing two HIVE agents, “Hey, if I thought ahead, would I even be a Titan?”

Red Arrow shrugged, “Point.”

**Miss Martian, Red Star and Flamebird**

Bette Kane, Flamebird, stood at the base of the Statue of Liberty, trying her best to take in the entire battlefield and coordinate the Titans as best she could. Overall, the battle was going well, but her teammates slash students were all too preoccupied with their own battles to see what exactly had to be done.

“Boat is cleared.”

Well, there was an exception to every rule, Bette thought to herself, before she activated her suit’s radio, “Red Star, Miss Martian, get to the hostages to the boat. They have two mechs, and ten agents with energy weapons, be careful.”

“You shouldn’t worry for us,” replied Red Star.

“For you, maybe,” Flamebird said under her breath.

ooOOooo

When Bill Martin had first begun to train in HIVE’s mecha-suits, he felt invincible. Surrounded in several feet of steel, standing nearly two stories tall and possessing firepower equal to that of a tank, it wasn’t hard to understand why.

But Leonid Konstantinovitch Kovar, Red Star, provided an instant reality check when the six foot six hero smashed into the giant mech like a comet, and brought it down in seconds.

Amanda Byrne felt a shiver of fear shoot down her spine as she saw Red Star beginning to tear into the metal armor with his bare hands.

“Get to the boat, we’ll cover you!”

Amanda looked up, and was mildly surprised to see a green skinned, red haired, freckled Martian, in a feminine costume reminiscent of the Martian Manhunter’s.

The young alien raised her hands as her eyes glowed green, and suddenly energy blasts began bouncing off of thin air.

“Lets go!” Amanda heard her sister Julie hiss as she pulled on her sleeve, as the crowd began to move.

“I have to stay,” Amanda almost recoiled from her own words. She picked up her young daughter, and put on her best smile, “Amy, Mommy has to stay here and help. Stay with Aunt Julie, okay?”

“Amanda, you can’t be…” her sister was about to scold her older sibling, but one look told her everything she needed to know.

“Mom! Mommy!”

The DEO Agent felt like someone had taken a knife to her heart as she heard her daughter cry out for her, but Amanda had a job to do. All DEO Agents had standing orders to stay on site of a superhuman conflict, to observe if nothing else. No exceptions, no excuses. One Agent who left the scene of an ordinary Superman versus Prankster battle had nearly lost his pension, and given her personal involvement…

“Mommy! Mommy, don’t leave me!”

Amanda knew she’d have to bribe her daughter with ice-cream for a month at least before she got any forgiveness, but it would be even longer than that before she could live with herself. But that was the job.

Amanda ducked behind a news stand, and pulled out her service weapon. Compared to the weapons HIVE was carrying, it wasn’t much but it beat nothing at all. Now armed, she turned back, and saw that Miss Martian was surrounded on all sides by HIVE agents wielding rifled straight out of Star Trek, and had turned them on the young alien. The streams of energy began to inch ever closer her, and Amanda could see the girl was on the verge of panic.

“Mr. Red Star! Miss Flamebird, I need a hand!” Miss Martian shouted over the radio, panicked.

“Crap,” Flamebird saw Miss Martian’s situation, but knew she was too far to help, “Red Star, assist Miss Martian!”

“I am,” Red Star said flatly, without moving a single inch.

“Red Star!”

“Mr. Red Star?” Miss Martian glanced towards the older Titan, silently pleading with him to help.

“You need to stop them,” Red Star said firmly. Miss Martian’s super senses allowed her to pick up his voice effortlessly, “you can’t keep running. You have to stand your ground, or it will never end.”

“Please, I can’t do this…” Miss Martian had tears in her eyes, and the streams of energy were inching ever closer to her now, “…I…I just can’t! I’m not…worth…”

“Damn it Red Star, help her!” Flamebird shouted into her radio, as she swung her elbow into the face of a HIVE agent who thought he was sneaking up on the heroine. Flamebird was about to make a bee line to Miss Martian’s side when two more HIVE agents came at her, weapons blazing.

“I am helping her,” Red Star replied, as he remained perfectly still.

“…please,” the streams of energy were only a few feet from the young Martian now, “I can’t…”

“You can and you will,” Red Star said, “Otherwise, someone will come along and take you back. Is that what you want?”

“No…” Miss Martian gritted her teeth, her eyes narrowed with hate and she screamed, “never again!”

A wave of telekinetic power lashed out in every direction, knocking the HIVE soldiers aside like ten pins. Miss Martian fell to one knee, as tears began streaming down her face.

“Damn it, Red Star…” Flamebird muttered. The brightly colored heroine glanced around, and saw an unconscious HIVE agent wearing a jetpack. She quickly unstrapped it, and as she gave it a once over, she activate her radio, “Red Star, cover me. I need to see to Miss Martian.”

“Understood.”

Flamebird gripped the straps tightly, and pressed what she hoped was the jetpack’s ignition. The former Tennis Star let out a little squeal of surprise when it took like a rocket, but she held on, and with a shift of her weight, steered it towards Miss Martian.

Flamebird brought the flight pack down low to the ground, and then leapt off the careening jet pack as if it were a trolley-train.

As for the devise itself, it kept on flying, and slammed into Red Star’s head at full throttle. The explosion was equal to a hundred pounds of dynamite easy, but in the end all it did was make the Russian hero angry.

“Bette…” Red Star climbed to his feet, and was only angered further when he saw how Flamebird wasn’t paying him the least bit of attention. Instead, she was by Miss Martian’s side, trying to calm the weeping girl.

“It’s okay M’gann,” Flamebird said softly, “you did fine, you saved the civilians and you’re safe now. It’s going to be just fine, sweetie.”

Flamebird spared a glance at Red Star, as if daring him to challenge that statement. The Russian simply gritted his teeth, but looked away. He’d take the matter up later, but right now he decided to devote himself to Miss Martian and Flamebird’s isolation and therefore, safety.

And he wondered, not for the first time, why he was even here.

**Son of Vulcan**

Miguel Devante, AKA Vulcan (or Son of Vulcan depending on who you asked), activated his wrist shield, and charged three HIVE agents as they unloaded their weapons at him. What his shield missed was easily handled by his armor, but Vulcan still felt his heart jump each time he heard the ‘ping!’ of bullets bouncing off.

 _You can do this, you can do this_ , Miguel repeated like a survival mantra. He swung his sword, and in one slash he destroyed three energy rifles. Vulcan sighed in relief, and pointed his sword at the HIVE agent in the middle, “Surrender and no one gets hurt!”

The HIVE agent replied by throwing his rifle at Vulcan’s head. The young hero’s helmet provided a degree of protection, but it still knocked the teen hero for a loop, and within seconds the HIVE agents were dog-piled on top.

“Super zero!”

“Gold plated loser!”

Vulcan dropped his sword and covered his face in reflex, as the beating rained down.

 **You shame the Vulcan lineage,** a voice rang through young Miguel’s head.

“Shut up!” Vulcan snapped, “I’m sick of listening to you! Haven’t you done enough?!”

“Idiot kid’s talking to himself!” remarked one thug, “they let anyone put on a costume these days!”

To his credit, Vulcan handled the pain and humiliation better than most at his age. He was certainly used to it. But when he remembered that such humiliation was normal, that failure was his entire superhero career up until now, Vulcan got angry. And Vulcan began to grow warm.

“Hey, why’s it so…”

Ben Horne, professional mook and HIVE agent, never finished the sentence before a ball of flame exploded out of Vulcan in every direction like a hand grenade. The men were blown backwards as if they were made of paper.

“Oh no…” Vulcan climbed to his heat, unable to tear his eyes away from the three smoldering HIVE agents, “not again.”

Vulcan felt numb. He would have cried, if he had any tears left. He didn’t notice that the HIVE agents were still breathing, or how not a single civilian had been allowed to come to harm today. All he saw, could see, was how his own weakness had cost even more lives.

**Steel**

Red Arrow scanned the battlefield, and felt mixed emotions with how his team was performing. The civilians were all rescued and evacuated, but the team was scattered and some Titans who shouldn’t be fighting alone were doing just that.

“Boss man!”

Red Arrow raised an eyebrow as Natasha Irons, the second Steel, landed next to him holding the helmet of a HIVE soldier.

“What’s up?”

“I think I might have a way to disable all of them!” Steel held the helmet out for Red Arrow to see, “if I can hack into their radios, I can send a sonic pulse through them and take out everyone!”

Red Arrow raised an eyebrow, “I don’t recall giving you the order to do that.”

“Well, duh,” Steel flexed her fist, and several specialized tools slid out of her fingers, “I’m trying to take initiative. Just cover me for a second, okay boss man?”

“Steel,” Roy was a little annoyed how the young woman had suddenly blocked him out as she went to work on the helmet. Red Arrow didn’t understand what she was doing exactly, but as far as he was concerned, he didn’t need to, “Steel!”

“What?!”

“It’s a neat idea, but what if they can just turn their radios off?” Roy asked as patiently as one could when there was a battle raging all around, “I need you on overland duty. We have to know that all the civilians besides that DEO agent got away, and I need someone to play swing hitter. We can handle HIVE just fine otherwise.”

“…DEO agent?” Steel felt a lump in her throat. She hadn’t even noticed…

“Over there,” Roy thumbed towards where Amanda Byrne was crouching, gun in hand, “look, it was a good idea but we don’t need it right now. Go back up Vulcan, okay?”

Red Arrow could practically hear Steel wince, and saw glad he’d chosen to use a light touch. The girl was smart, but she had some rough edges that needed work.

“Got it boss man,” Steel rocketed into the air, and Roy wondered if this was how Dick felt when ordering him around, all those years ago. Plenty of potential, but pointed in the wrong direction.

“Why did I agree to this?” Roy asked himself under his breath.

**Ravager**

“That all you got?” Rose Wilson, Ravager, smirked as she slashed outwards with her katanas. She was surrounded by ten men, and she’d been careful to relieve them of their guns as only the daughter of Deathstroke could, but having done that, Rose wanted to have some fun.

“Get around her!” ordered one man.

“Heh,” Ravager couldn’t suppress a chuckle, “my dad had a saying, ‘when they’re on your left, on your right, in front and in back, that’s when they can’t get away’.”

“Well, you’re not your fath…”

Ravager kicked the man in the head before he could finish. She slammed an elbow into a second man, and just for flavor, back-handed a third.

“You’re damn right I’m not,” Ravager swept her swords outwards, and sliced a deep cut into six men. The wounds were shallow, but they’d both bleed and hurt like hell. The men, if they had any common sense, would simply lay on the ground and apply pressure to the wounds until the medics came.

And if they didn’t, then it was just natural selection in action. Rose didn’t care much one way or the other.

“If I was, you’d be dead already.”

“Don’t…don’t come any closer!” warned the remaining HIVE agent as he brandished a six inch combat blade, though for all the good it would do him, he might have well been holding a toothpick.

“Oh, I’m going to come a lot closer,” Ravager sheathed her blades, but strode forward confidently, “I prefer to savor the last one. Just because I’m a hero doesn’t mean I can’t have any fun.”

“You’re insane!”

“No rule against that either!”

**Damage**

Hale Gentry, despite his chosen career choice, was actually something of a fanboy when it came to superheroes. He didn’t begrudge them for opposing people like him, in fact he respected them for it. He liked the fact that there were better men than himself out there, making the world a better place.

And if anyone asked, Hale would proudly proclaim that his favorite heroes were the Justice Society of America. To him, they defined heroism even now. And he was actually offended when he saw a hero wearing an obvious rip off of the original Atom’s costume, ‘creatively’ updated with a radioactive symbol. Who did this punk think he was? 

Grant Emerson, Damage and son of the original Atom, threw himself at the first HIVE mech with a roar that would do a lion proud.

“You think those metal suits will save you!?” Damage smashed a fist glowing with power into steel that could withstand a direct hit from a tank shell. The metal tore like tissue paper, but that wasn’t enough for Damage. He channeled the atomic energies that beat in his chest, and his fists began to glow white hot.

Inside of a minute, a battle mech that could handle an entire battalion was reduced to so much scrap metal. Damage was knee deep in molten metal, yet all he saw was the two remaining mechs that stood frozen, like deer in headlights.

“Okay, okay,” the first Mech raised its hands, and took a step back, “we surrender, we’ll just power down, and…”

The HIVE mechs took a step back, and from Damage’s perspective, it was a step towards where Flamebird was still consoling Miss Martian. A step towards his teammates.

“No!” Damage released a burst of energy from his hands and shot forward like a rocket, slamming into the first mech, and causing it to fall backwards into the second, “you won’t hurt her again! Never again!”

Steel and wire flew like confetti, and when the two pilots were later interviewed by the DEO, neither could say for certain how they survived.

**Batgirl**

“I think we got them about swept up,” Roy Harper dragged two unconscious HIVE agents behind him, and tossed them in a pile.

“Aren’t we missing someone?” Ravager scoffed, “where’s Bat bitch hiding at?”

“I’m not hiding,” Batgirl said as she came up from behind Ravager. The one eyed heroine nearly jumped out of her skin, “…was working.”

“Yeah right,” Ravager growled, “you just couldn’t keep up with the rest of us, you chicken-sh…”

“Rose, that’s enough!” Red Arrow snapped.

“Hey, if she wants to be on this team, she has to carry her weight!”

Batgirl gave Ravager a cold look, and raised a single finger. Ravager, and the rest of the team, glanced up, and saw five men hanging upside down from the torch of the Statue of Liberty.

“First, sniper team. Had you in their sights. Welcome.”

“Uhh, Batgirl,” Roy rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly, “you don’t start counting off with that finger.”

“Two,” Batgirl didn’t raise another finger, “I removed the bomb…HIVE placed on the tour boat. Allowed the civilians…to get away.”

“Three,” still one finger, raised towards Ravager, “placed a tracer…on the small team escaping. We can follow and…finish this completely.”

“Well done,” Red Star nodded towards Batgirl.

“Thank you.”

“But you need to inform your teammates of your plans. That’s why Aqualad is chasing after the boat that you planted the tracer on.”

“…what?”

**Aqualad**

Kaldur’ahm of Atlantis, the latest heir to the name Aqualad or Kaldur to his teammates (no friends as of yet), hadn’t questioned Red Arrow’s to hold back, and keep him appraised of any possible reinforcements. It was sound tactics, even if it kept Aqualad from the battle he so desperately longed for.

So when he spotted a half dozen men climbing aboard a medium sized boat that had been anchored there since the team arrived, Aqualad gave chase without a thought of radioing his team leader.

Blessed with the ability to control water with a thought, Kaldur caught up with the speedboat, and with a simple mental push, shot out of the air and landed on the bow of the ship.

Aqualad whipped out his water-bearers, forming a short sword in one hand and a shield in the other, “Surrender now. There is only one way this ends, but the path there is your choice.”

The six HIVE soldiers raised their guns.

Aqualad stepped forward and swung his water hammer. With his control over the elements, the weapon was nearly as hard as steel, and disabled three men effortlessly. The young warrior swept his leg outward, hitting one HIVE soldier in his side and propelling him into the other two.

“You were warned,” Aqualad said simply, as he allowed his sword and hammer to return to simple water. He placed his hands on his hips and now that the battle was over, allowed himself to feel a small measure of pride. While he would have preferred to just outright kill these men, he was made to understand that surface-worlders frowned upon that sort of thing.

But by holding himself to a different standard of conduct, and winning, Aqualad felt as if he was the true soldier of Good he had always dreamed of being.

“Aqualad, this is Red Arrow! Stop pursuit!”

“Why?”

Like someone flipping a switch, Aqualad’s pride transformed into anxiety in a single heartbeat.

“Because we can trace them back to their base!”

Aqualad winced, but before he could so anything more, he heard a roar. He glanced upwards towards the noise, and saw a metal cylinder blasting towards him. Aqualad wasn’t too familiar with surface weapons, but he decided to err on the side of caution, and leapt into the water.

He wasn’t five feet underwater before the boat exploded in a ball of fire and metal.

“Aqualad, Aqualad report!”

“I’m fine,” said Aqualad as he surfaced, “the boat was struck by a…missile, I believe it is called.”

“What about the men aboard?”

“Dead,” Aqualad reported evenly.

“Why didn’t you save them?!”

“Why would I?” Aqualad asked honestly, “they’re my enemies. Were my enemies.”

Back on Liberty Island, Red Arrow had his hand in his face.

“This never happened to Nightwing…”

oooOOooo

Amanda Byrne waved her DEO badge as the Coast Guard and NYPD approached. She did everything she could to avoid looking at the youngsters who were gathered around the captured terrorists.

The haunted look of Vulcan, the anger that radiated off Ravager, Damage and Red Star, the sense of worthlessness etched on Miss Martian’s face, it wasn’t hard to see that this Titans team was an absolute mess.

The DEO Agent wondered how this team of heroes could possibly save anyone, when they could barely save themselves?

oooOOooo

Several miles away, a man of wealth and taste observed Titans East through a series of monitors, some in orbit, others in the suits of the HIVE soldiers themselves. He’d breathed new life into the terrorist organization almost overnight, all to see the Titans in action today.

“Oh, I was right,” the man swirled a glass of Champagne, a vintage no one alive could ever identify. The man had wiped the vineyard off the face of the earth personally, and the family that cared for it wiped out to the last third cousin, for what better way to appreciate its taste than to ensure its finality and thus guarantee that every drop is savored? 

The monitors focused in on the individual Titans. Batgirl, Captain Boomerang, Flamebird, Miss Martian, Red Arrow, Steel and every other Titan member were being analyzed and recorded by a series of tactical computers the Pentagon might develop in ten years, but for now were possessed by only three other men in the world.

“Three projects together, and the newest in a line of enemies? This is a challenge by fate itself! Oh these children will regret the day they became Titans!”

Next Issue: It’s Titans East vs. old and neo-nazis! But why is Damage on the nazi’s side?

Afterward:

So I hope you enjoyed your first issue of Titans East! I know what you’re thinking, “Every young team is full of misfits, what makes this one any different?”

Well, this one is misfits times twenty. This is the special class’ special class, and those that are struggling to help them. And you give you an idea of just how messed up, here’s a few previews.

_“I’ve felt that blade before!” Miss Martian’s fingers tightened around the Android’s throat, “Your Vulcan knew! He could have killed me! Why! Why didn’t he?!”_

_“So you want out of the Rogues?” Captain Cold looked down the barrel of his gun at Owen, “what makes you think the Rogues are done with you?”_

_Ravager held the blade to her wrist. Her remaining eye was wet, but she didn’t hesitate as she drove the blade into her flesh, “This is the only way.”_

_Roy took a seat across from the table. There were a million things he wanted to say, but here, alone, nothing came. He felt as if there was nothing he could say that hadn’t already been repeated. History had a sick way of repeating itself, and had done so once again. Another dead Titan._


	2. Chapter 2

**& &&**

**DC Infinity Presents**

**Titans East**

**“Grounded in Failure”**

**Part 1**

**Issue 2**

**& &&**

_Titans Tower_

“Rise and shine, Boomerbutt!”

Owen Mercer jerked awake as freezing cold water splashed across his body. The former Rogue scrambled out of bed, but his foot was caught in his blanket and he did nothing more than crash to the floor.

Splayed out on the ground helplessly, Owen looked up to see Roy Harper, Red Arrow, holding a bucket.

“What…the…hell?”

“I told you to be up by eight,” Roy Harper tossed the bucket aside, “it’s eight ten.”

“On a Saturday!”

“And?” Roy put his hands on his hips, and Owen realized no excuse would be good enough, “get dressed. Bette’s making breakfast. We got a full day ahead of us, Captain Boomerang, and it starts by you getting your ass in gear.”

oooOOooo

Red Arrow breathed out, slightly annoyed that he was already behind schedule this early in the morning. He was running through a list of creative punishments to inflict on Captain Boomerang, when he heard his daughter screaming.

Roy’s body was ready to break into a dead run, but his mind was calm. Roy Harper knew his daughter well, and the screaming was mixed with far too much laughter to be of too much concern.

So when Roy rounded the corner and saw Ravager holding his daughter under one arm like a sack of wheat, he instantly have her his best ‘I know you did something’ look.

“Dadddyyyy!” Lian whined, “save me! Rose is pickin’ on me!”

“Hush up, you,” The Daughter of Deathstroke poked Lian in the side, eliciting a fit of laughter.

“So what did my little terrorist do?” Roy asked, with a roll of his eyes.

“She was playing light sabers with my swords,” Rose replied and then gave Lian a dirty look, “those aren’t for kids.”

“They were in the holders!” Lian defended.

“Lian, we’ve talked about this,” Roy knelt down so that he was eye to eye with his young daughter, “what are the rules about handling dangerous weapons?”

“Only do it when you or Aunt Dinah are around,” Lian pouted.

“That’s right. Alright Rose, you can release your prisoner, and you both ought to get some breakfast.”

Rose let Lian down, and the six year old sulked as she went down the hall.

“She can be a little terror, huh?” Roy smiled with pride.

“Runs in the family,” Rose countered, with a note of annoyance, “just remember, I’m not her babysitter anymore.” 

“I know,” Roy felt a tinge of sadness, that Rose felt the need to declare that. Despite her parentage, she had once been a kind young woman (albeit one with a temper). But after everything she’d been through, with her father and Nightwing, Rose seemed to have a knee jerk reaction to assert her independence and strength, no matter how small the issue.

And if she did it here and now, Roy wondered what she might do in the field, where split second decisions meant life or death.

“Believe me, I know,” Roy said, trying to keep the weariness from his voice.

oooOOooo

With one burst of super-speed, Owen was making his way down the hall, in full combat gear. With one belt and a bandolier of boomerangs.

Most of the team were already waiting in the kitchen, dressed in full costume/uniform. Aqualad, Damage, Ravager, Steel (with her faceplate resting on the table) and Miss Martian, forming the oddest group Owen had ever seen together at one breakfast table yet, while Flamebird was wearing her costume, arms rolled up, cooking breakfast.

“Good of you to join us,” Flamebird grabbed a plate, and dropped a few scrambled eggs with bacon onto it, and gave it to Owen.

“Ya know, I can get by on just cereal,” Owen commented, and then took a bite of bacon.

“Trust me, you’ll need a lot more energy today than that,” Flamebird gave Damage a plate of pancakes.

Damage looked at the food, then to Flamebird.

“Thank you.”

Damage then took his plate, a handful of silverware, and left.

“…what’s his problem?” asked Steel.

“Grant doesn’t wear that mask to look bad ass,” Ravager explained as she entered the room. She went into the fridge, “his old team, the Freedom Fighters, were ambushed by the Society. They killed almost all of his teammates, and Zoom messed up Grant’s face pretty bad before leaving him in a coma.”

“Hmmph!” Aqualad snorted, “he should bear his scars proudly, like a true warrior.”

Ravager closed the fridge and looked towards Aqualad.

“How about I cut your face up, and you see how photographic you feel then?”

“Rose, no threats of maiming before lunch,” Flamebird chided, “I have to get something real quick. Hold down the fort, okay guys?”

“We’re not children,” Rose muttered.

“Hey, where’s Mikey?” asked Owen.

“Who gives a damn?” Rose countered.

“He’s probably still sleeping,” M’gann suggested.

Owen nearly jumped out of his skin. The martian was so quite, he’d completely forgotten she was sitting right next to him.

“Well, someone needs to get his ass up!” Owen protested, “why should he get to sleep in and we don’t?”

“Miss Martian, why don’t you go grab the kid?” Steel suggested.

“I…I really shouldn’t,” Miss Martian said with as much authority as she could muster, which was to say, none at all, “I don’t…want to be rude…”

“Oh, just wake his ass up, tell him we have pancakes, the end,” Rose didn’t even look up from her meal, “you can do it the fastest. Just do it already.”

“Oh…okay,” Miss Martian bit her lip, and then phased through the floors. She missed the returning Flamebird by only a minute.

“…where’s M’gann?” Flamebird felt a chill shoot down her spine.

“She went to wake up Kid Vulcan,” Steel replied.

“What?! Are you insane?!”

oooOOooo

Miss Martian passed through several layers of reinforced steel and stone, coming up out in the island’s courtyard. It was filled with statues of past Titans, an open field, swimming pool and tennis court.

Floating several feet in the air, near the edge of the courtyard was a silver metal globe, known as The Forge. It was the earth bound connection to Vulcan’s extra-dimensional fortress, based in the ‘Still Zone’.

Miss Martian felt intimidated just looking at it.

The line of Vulcan was _the_ boogeyman of White Martian culture, the implacable warrior of flame and blade. Vulcans had warred with her people for thousands of years, killed hundreds of scout, never negotiated and never took a single prisoner.

Miss Martian began to tremble as she approached the globe. She was about to enter the home of her people’s greatest enemy, a line of meta-humans who had dispatched hundreds of powerful Martians warriors, every single one of them worth ten of her, an implacable legacy that stopped all her people’s encroachment on earth singlehandedly, all by herself.

She wanted nothing more than to fly halfway around the world, but the thought of defying her teammate’s request was inconceivable to her. What right did something like her have to refuse them anything?

“Umm, hello?” Miss Martian tapped on the globe, “Vulcan? Are you there? Breakfast…”

“Monster!”

An energy burst slammed into Miss Martian, and sent her crashing into the courtyard, destroying the tennis courts.

Miss Martian’s vision was swimming, but she managed to see a woman in a short shirt, white shirt and tie looking down at her with utter contempt and a rage unlike anything the young martian had ever seen before. More than that, she had four missile launchers protruding from her wrists.

“You dare try to violate the sanctity of the Forge?” demanded the Android named Pandora, “I knew your kind was not to be trusted!”

“I just wanted to tell Vulcan about the pancakes!” M’gann pleaded.

Pandora was apparently unconvinced, as she unleashed all eight missiles at the young Titan. The missiles burned white hot, and there was no doubt in her mind that they were filled with napalm. Miss Martian could have shot into the air, stopped them with her telekinesis or phased into the earth, but she had neither the will or courage to save herself as she faced certain death. She caught sight of her teammates out of the corner of her eye, rushing towards her, and all M’gann could think was how she was a terrible person for making them witness her death.

M’gann squeezed her eyes shut, she felt the earth rumble and heard the missiles explode with a deafening roar. But when M’gann felt the heat but none of the fire, she opened her eyes and gasped.

Red Star stood in front of her, like an unbreakable wall between the Martian and the Android. White flames licked across his body, but he didn’t even seem to notice. In fact, with a calming breath, he absorbed the energy of the flames, snuffing the napalm out as if it were a birthday candle. Smoke drifted off his body, but he didn’t have a single scorch mark on him.

“Mr. Red Star, I’m s...sorry, I…” Miss Martian began, but Red Star raised a finger motioning for silence. The entire team had gathered now, but no one could find anything to say.

“Do not apologize,” Red Star said simply. The android Pandora had retracted her weapons, and stood there anxiously now that the entire team had gathered.

“Damn straight!” Steel snapped, “she just attacked a Titan! Why ain’t we taking her apart?”

“Because what happened was a simple mistake,” said Red Star.

Pandora said nothing.

“After hundreds of years of fighting white Martians, it’s easy to make a mistake when the peaceful one approaches your home,” explained Red Star. He began to step forward, crushing the stone beneath his feet.

“People make mistakes, and people can be forgiven for that,” Red Star was now only an inch away from Pandora, and the two met with a hard stare, “but when things…things like computers, like cars, when they malfunction and threaten people, they are destroyed. Ripped apart, melted down, crushed into dust, and then, because it is just a machine, just a _thing_ …then you get really mean.”

Red Star clenched his fist loud enough to be heard, and Pandora broke the stare.

“It was just a mistake,” muttered the Android.

“Good,” Red Star looked over his shoulder, “Miss Martian, please go inside the Forge, and retrieve Vulcan. Now.”

Miss Martian nodded pitifully, and phased into the Forge before Flamebird could stop her.

oooOOooo

_The Forge_

Miguel Devante, Son of Vulcan, tried his best not to look at anyone as he walked down the busy city street, but it was damn near impossible as everyone was looking at him. Seeing through him, seeing his weakness, seeing his mistakes. The once unimportant orphan knew he was the center of attention of the entire world, and he could feel the weight crushing hi. Each breath was like someone was sitting on his chest, and there was nowhere he could look where someone wasn’t looking back at him.

When he cast his eyes down, he saw the dead bodies of aliens he instinctively knew were Durlean, shapeshifters who’d made their way to earth to study its culture, to find a more peaceful home.

Every last one died at the end of his blade.

“All you ever do is take.”

Vulcan couldn’t bring himself to turn around, but when he saw the shadow that had fallen over him, there was no mistaking who it was.

Wonder Woman. One of the greatest heroes in the world. Honored and respected in a dozen worlds.

And he’d killed her.

**Awake, weakling! Our ancient enemy is upon us!**

Miguel opened his eyes, and saw Miss Martian hovering over him.

“Ahhh!” Miguel and M’Gann shouted at the same time. They scrambled away from one another in a panic. Miguel fell out of bed, while M’gann backed herself into the farthest corner of the room.

“What…?” Miguel’s brain was only barely beginning to come on-line.

“Pancakes!” M’gann blurted out, before she was in the air and phasing out of the Forge as quickly as her powers would carry her.

“What?” Miguel was no less confused, “…Dios…”

 **She was spying on The Forge. She and all her kind are to be eliminated,** said a second voice in Vulcan’s mind.

“Shut up, Praetor,” Vulcan shook his head and squeezed his eyes, not in the mood to deal with his ‘passenger’. It wasn’t enough that his superhero career was destroyed before it had even started, he had to deal with the thing responsible living inside his own head, “it’s too early for your racist attitude.”

oooOOooo

Miss Martian shot out of The Forge like a bullet, but Red Star was still quick enough to catch her by the cape.

“Any issues inside?” Red Star asked.

Miss Martian couldn’t bring herself to raise her head to look him in the eyes.

“N…n…no,” Miss Martian stammered.

“And there won’t be,” Red Star gave Pandora a hard, ugly look, “will there?”

“…of course not,” Pandora replied

“Some high freakin’ drama over breakfast,” observed Steel.

“Our teammate was attacked,” Aqualad growled, “why are we not defending her honor?”

“Defending whose honor?”

Red Arrow walked up, hand in hand with his young daughter Lian. He nodded towards the gathered team, and then looked at Flamebird.

“Is this something I need to be concerned about?”

Flamebird said something in reply, but it was drowned out by the roar of a jet engine. The gathered heroes, plus one android, looked to the sky and saw a black plane with a very familiar design.

“Those bats love to make an entrance,” Red Arrow said over the roar.

“Those they were supposed to all God damn ninja!” Ravager shouted back, “screw this, I’m going inside.”

The Batplane sent down in the court yard, and Batgirl leapt out. She took a moment to access the situation, then crooked her head towards Red Arrow.

“We have a hangar.”

“Looked…tense out here,” Batgirl replied, “is…something wrong?”

Red Arrow looked towards Red Star and Flamebird.

“No, we’re good for now,” Bette replied.

“Good. Bette, make sure everyone’s had something to eat, and then we need to meet in the briefing room,” Red Arrow ordered, “I’ve got to meet someone in a few minutes.”

oooOOooo

Amanda Byrne held a firm grip on her daughter’s hand as they skimmed across the water in a multi-million dollar hover-platform. It was square, with a plastic shield at the front and a guard rail, and it moved seamlessly across the water, because it floated several feet above it.

Amanda found it all just a little unsettling. She could handle boats just fine, but this thing was new technology, likely untested, unregulated, and her mind went through a dozen different scenarios in which this simple craft could catastrophically malfunction, from sinking like a rock to exploding like a hand grenade.

Naturally, her young daughter didn’t give any of that a second thought. She leaned against the plastic and stared out at the water rushing by. Being so close was a thrill to the little girl who had barely seen the ocean until now. Amanda couldn’t help but hold onto one hand, in case the worse happened.

The DEO agent breathed a sigh of relief when the craft docked on Titan island, and the door opened automatically.

“Welcome to Titans Tower,” Roy smiled as the DEO agent stepped down.

“This is so cool!” Amy brushed past her mom, looked at Red Arrow, then to Titans Tower and then back to Red Arrow again, “this is the best thing ever!”

“Hey! Wanna go inside?” Lian grabbed Amy by the wrist, and began pulling her towards the Tower, “we have every game ever! And you have got to see my room! And…!”

Roy Harper and Amanda Byrne watched as the two most important people in their lives ran off, having completely and utterly forgotten about them.

“…”

“Well, at least they hit it off,” Roy observed.

“Thanks again for letting me bring her,” Amanda said, “I know you said it’d be fine to bring her, but I didn’t want it to be today, but my babysitter got sick, and…”

Roy waved a hand dismissively, “Believe me, I know the adventures in babysitting. Don’t sweat it. I’d rather focus on what we got planned for later today.”

oooOOooo

The day had started off on the wrong foot, but Roy felt a small bit of pride when he saw his team assembled around the conference table, in full costume and patiently waiting. The team was in their chairs, while Red star and Flamebird stood in front of the main mission monitor.

“Okay guys, let’s get this Titans mission officially started,” Roy clapped his hands together, “first, everyone, this is our DEO liaison, Amanda Byrne. Everyone say hey.”

“Well met!” Aqualad said. Damage and Ravager just grunted. Vulcan and Miss Martian squeaked a ‘hello’, Steel shrugged, Captain Boomerang tried to sink into his seat, while Batgirl scowled.

“And we have a liaison because…?” Ravager asked.

“This team is something of an experiment,” Roy explained. Batgirl made note of how Red Arrow’s eyes swept over Ravager, Captain Boomerang, Vulcan and Miss Martian, “the DEO has a large caseload, as do the JSA and JLA. So we get what falls through the cracks.”

“So we get scraps,” Ravager groused.

“We do good,” Damage countered, “grow up, Rose.”

“I actually thought we’d wait around until we got attacked,” said Captain Boomerang.

“Well, this is different,” Red Arrow said, “and we’re the perfect team for it. We’re a team of Asian, African-American, Hispanic, Russian and alien to whup Nazi ass.” 

Aqualad raised his hand.

“Yes Kaldur?”

“Please forgive my ignorance, but I am curious. Who here is African American again?”

“And why are Nazis so bad?” asked Miss Martian in a shy voice.

“Oh, for Christ’s sake,” Rose muttered, shaking her head.

“Rose, enough,” Roy tried not to let it show in his face, but the team was absolutely killing the buzz he had for this mission, “Nazis are evil bastards who hate everyone they deem as inferior, which is everyone but them.”

“I don’t understand what’s so wrong about hating those that are inferior,” said Miss Martian.

“It is when you hurt people,” Roy said, and made a quick slashing motion across his neck, “Anyways, we’re going to take down a cell of Shadowspire.”

“Oh really?” Damage sat up, and cracked his knuckles.

“Yeah. A Mossad agent stumbled across their compound in West Virginia while investigating weapons smuggling,” Amanda Byrne began, “he was smart enough to high tail it after getting some pictures. There were some heavy weight racists seen at the compound, Axis America to be exact, and that’s where we come in.”

Roy typed a few commands into the monitor and brought up the mug shots of several villains.

“Baroness Blitzkrieg, superspeedster. White Dragon, power armor. Ubermensch, super strength. Gundra, his wife and real Valkyrie, same. Their twin children known as the Terror Twins, Terence and Theresa, flight and strength. Heatmonger, flame throwing cybernetics, and Golden Eagle, cyber suit with wings.”

“That’s a lot of muscle,” Rose observed.

“Nothing we can’t handle,” Red Arrow replied.

“Who’s their leader?” asked Damage.

Red Arrow hesitated, knowing how his teammate would react to the news.

“Baron Blitzkrieg.”

“What!?” Damage shot up and slammed his fist into the table, denting the steel frame,“that scum bag’s dead! He was blown apart in the Battle of Metropolis!”

“Geez, calm down,” Rose snapped, “villains come back to life all the damn time. What does it matter if he’s back?”

“Because this one is a damn war criminal!” Damage growled, “he’s also pure scum. He kidnapped the baby of a friend of mine and did God only knows what! If he’s alive…he won’t be for long.”

“That’s enough of that talk,” Roy said, “if he’s back, we take him down and that’s where it ends. If you have a problem with that, Grant, you know where the door is.”

Roy didn’t feel reassured when Damage sat back down without a word of protest. Was he agreeing, or biding his time?

“Also, we’re going to approach this a little different than we did on our last mission,” Roy continued, “Shadowspire is suspected of weapons smuggling, so Batgirl is going to take a look at their compound before we go charging in. Last thing we want to do is blow up the mountain. Red Star and Damage will take point when we engage, and Miss Martian will bring up the rear.”

“Umm, where will I be?” Vulcan asked.

“Sorry kid, but you’re going to sit this one out,” Roy said.

“What! Why?”

Roy would have to be blind miss how disappointed Vulcan was to miss out on the mission. The kid already had no shortage of self esteem issues, and being left behind like this wouldn’t help anything. But some things can’t be helped.

“The compound is in a heavily wooded area and it’s a dry season,” Roy explained, “we can’t risk burning down the mountain, so you and Flamebird will be our reserve.”

“Oh,” Vulcan understood the logic, but slumped in his chair as yet another chance to prove himself slipped through his fingers yet again.

“They also serve who only stand and wait, my friend,” Kaldur placed a reassuring hand on his friend’s shoulder, “your time will come, I’m certain.”

“I just got one question,” Steel said.

“Shoot.”

“Is it wrong that I’m looking forward to beating these jerks up?”

“If it’s wrong, I don’t want to be right.”

oooOOooo

_Later_

Batgirl moved through the woods of West Virginia as if they were her second home. She slipped past the motion detectors, stayed down wind of the dogs and barely gave any mind to the security cameras. The city was where she had made her home, but in her short life Cassandra Cain had found herself forced to survive in nearly every environment on the planet. There was nowhere on earth where she couldn’t be invisible.

Batgirl found the compound was relatively unimpressive. A Main house where business was conducted, barracks, a firing range, a garage, nothing that seemed too suspicious. Not counting the armed patrols, of course.

The only thing that seemed out of the ordinary, or at least unusual for a criminal enterprise, was a tool shed covered in a camo-tarp in the middle of a field. The camo-tarp would prevent it from being seen from the air, while the open field would make any day time approach difficult.

But what really peaked Batgirl’s interest was when the patrol walked by. Both men, heavily armed, made a point to keep their distance from the ‘shed’. There was a cautious fear in every step.

The more she thought about it, the more Batgirl realized she had to have a look at that shed. And in the bright light of the day and superhuman muscle around, she needed a distraction.

Batgirl tapped her radio, “Red Arrow, position?”

“Two miles north at a friendly farm,” Red Arrow answered.

“Approach?”

“North west.”

Batgirl reached into her belt, “Approach and stay one hundred yards out. Will…draw them out. Hit hard and fast.”

“Understood.”

oooOOooo

“Understood?” Ravager growled, “why the hell does she get special treatment?”

“Because she’s got experience,” Red Arrow replied, “you’re still green, Rose. When you accept that, you might actually get better.”

Ravager rolled her eye, and walked away grumbling.

“Where’s Miss Martian?” Roy asked, “we need her to make a silent approach.”

“She’s off talking to the cows,” Captain Boomerang replied.

“…what?”

oooOOooo

The war criminal known as Übermensch looked out the window, watching as his children wrestled one another. The two twins were the very image of Aryan perfection, just like their mother, but their gifts were also their burden.

Born able to crush a car from the first moment they took a breath, they were often isolated from other children. With no other playmates, they turned to one another. Even as they grew older, they were inseparable.

“I’ma break your neck!” Theresa shouted. She had Terence in a headlock as the boy laughed madly. He leaned his weight to the side, and they crashed into a tree, turning it into splinters.

“You worry too much.”

Übermensch didn’t turn around as his wife approached. As a warrior Goddess of Asgard, she was as every bit as beautiful as the first day they met. He felt a little sorry for, being shackled to an old man like him. His powers had preserved his body for decades, but he could slowly feel his strength fade away year after year. He didn’t know how much longer he had, but it wasn’t enough. Not when his lover was immortal.

“They will never grow up in a society where they will be treated as they should be,” Ubermensch sighed wistfully, “nor can they live in the world as it is. They are born of science and magic. The world would call them freaks and treat them as lab rats. And even if that never came to pass…society would never forgive them for their parents.”

“And do you regret bringing them into this world?” Gunda looked towards her ancient weapons. She loved her husband, but even after decades with him she didn’t always understand him. The constant conflict, the wars and battles, were as natural as breathing to her. After all this time, after all the blood they had spilled together, she didn’t understand why it wasn’t the same with him.

_Meanwhile, several miles away, the Bat-plane received a series of instructions. A panel on the side opened, fired once, and then after one minute, fired three more times._

“I don’t, my love,” Übermensch said, “but I regret the life I’ve given them. I regret…”

The aged Nazi’s next words were drowned out as an explosion rocked the compound.

The two Warriors rushed outside, and were quickly joined by their children, and their newest recruit Baroness Blitzkrieg and Heatmonger.

“Pa, is this a raid?” Theresa asked.

“Unlikely.I’vesweptthecompound,” Baroness Blitzkrieg reported, “foundnoone.”

“We’re under attack!” White Dragon hissed as he and Golden Eagle flew towards their teammates, “why are you just standing about!”

“Because where are they!” Übermensch swept his hand outward, “I see no one! Our attacker clearly means to divide us! No, we will…!”

Once again Übermensch found himself interrupted as several large smoke bombs detonated all around them.

“Damn it!” Übermensch cursed.

High above the chaos, levitated by Miss Martian’s telekinetic powers, Red Arrow smirked.

“Bats always know how to make a mess,” Red Arrow observed, “okay Grant, you ready to go?”

“Always.”

Miss Martian released her telekinetic hold on Damage, and he belly-flopped back to earth, just behind Axis America. Damage picked himself up, and casually brushed himself off, as he became the center of attention of a half dozen sociopaths.

“Who are you supposed to be?” Terence cracked his knuckles.

“Damage,” Grant replied, and then began to glow orange, “and here’s why.”

“Ohno,” Baroness Blitzkrieg grabbed Heatmonger, while White Dragon and Golden Eagle took to the air, but the gathered family of Nazis simply weren’t quick enough to escape as energy exploded out of Damage and swept over them like a tsunami.

“I knew we shouldn’t have gotten involved with him,” White Dragon muttered as he looked down, “our benefactor’s enemies have become ours.”

“Man, there’s a lot of stuff you shouldnae done. First thing you shoulda’ done was look up.”

White Dragon did just that, and was greeted by Steel’s hammer. She struck him like a baseball, and sent him colliding back to earth.

Golden Eagle saw this happen, but before he could even think of an action to take, what felt like a tank came down on him.

“The real Golden Eagle is a traitor and slacker,” Red Star grabbed the man’s exoskeleton, and tore it apart as if it were tinfoil. Golden Eagle felt like a stone, flapping his hands manically as he fell, “and he’s still twice the man you will ever be.”

Golden Eagle shrieked as he fell, and he was a hair’s breathe from being pan-caked by the earth when he stopped suddenly.

“You shouldn’t hurt people,” Miss Martian said, her eyes glowing with power.

“Kill her!” Golden Eagle shouted.

Miss Martian turned her head, and saw a half dozen men with automatic weapons pointed at her. Without any hesitation, they unleashed a hail of bullets that harmlessly bounced off her skin. Golden Eagle crawled away on his belly, all the while praying none of the ricochets hit him.

Miss Martain stumbled back, the ratta-tat-tat of the bullets kept her from concentrating, from thinking of a way to extract herself from this situation. That she wasn’t in any real danger didn’t exactly register in her mind.

Aqualad saw what was happening, and took it upon himself to resolve the situation.

“That is enough!” Aqualad shouted. He reached out with his powers and felt a large body of water nearby. He raced towards the gunman, drawing the water out of the earth as he ran. They had only begun to turned when Aqualad was upon them, with a wave of water just behind.

The young hero leapt over them, but allowed the wave to hit them in full force. When he landed, Aqualad knelt down and unleashed an electrical burst. The water carried it to every gunman, who seized and then fell unconscious.

“Thank you,” Miss Martian brushed some of her hair out of her face, but looked downward.

“So where did you find all that water?” Ravager strolled towards the two, nose pinched.

“From the ground. But it did not feel pure,” Aqualad admitted, “why were keeping unclean about?”

Ravager couldn’t keep from laughing, “You hit them with water from the septic system?”

“I don’t understand, did I do wrong?”

“No, not at all. Not in the least.”

oooOOooo 

Damage blasted Übermensch in the gut, and followed up with a right cross when the aged villain fell to his knees. He fell over stunned, and Damage slammed his boot into the war criminal’s face, shattering rock.

“Stay down, old man,” Damage hissed.

“Leave my Pa alone!”

Damage saw Terence flying towards his, his eyes full of rage.

Damage took a step back, and then punted Übermensch at his son like a football. Father and son collided violently, and before Terence could untangle himself from his beloved father, Damage leapt upon them, hands crackling with power and began pummeling them both.

oooOOooo

“Ya’ll ain’t so tough!” Theresa slammed into Red Star full force. The Russian hero skidded backwards, but managed to hold his ground.

“I disagree,” Red Star grabbed Theresa by the wrists, and activated his flame powers. Almost instantly his hands became white hot.

“Cheater!” Theresa kicked Red Star away, only this time he tripped and ended up on his backside, stunned. Theresa rose into the air, and then shot towards the Titan like a bullet.

Red Star braced himself for the hit as Theresa became nothing more than a blond blur, but at the last second a green and white streak appeared.

Miss Martian and Theresa just barely missed Red Star as they crashed. Both girls were on their feet almost instantly.

“Alien trash!” Theresa spat as she swung a fist at the Martian.

M’gann phased through it effortlessly, and delivered an upper-cut that made the Terror Twin see stars, before slamming her with a telekinetic burst.

“You shouldn’t hurt people,” Miss Martian growled, and punched Theresa across the face.

Red Star watched the fight from a distance. Miss Martian was more than holding her own, whereas before she struggled to defend herself. What was so different now?

oooOOooo

Gunda hefted her war axe, made from the bones of her first giant kill and standing five feet from top to bottom, and swung it at Red Arrow.

Red Arrow deftly leapt backwards as he notched an arrow.

“Lady, you give a whole new shine to overcompensation.”

Roy let the explosive arrow fly, and the Asgardian was thrown back by the explosion.

“You okay over there?” Roy called out.

“Just fine!” Captain Boomerang let fly two explosive weapons of his own, that Baroness Blitzkrieg just barely avoided, “fighting speedsters is in my blood!”

“Showme!” Baroness Blitzkrieg charged at the former Rogue, and Owen panicked. He plucked a boomerang from his belt and let it fly, realizing only at the last minute that it wasn’t the blunt boomerang he intended to grab, but an edged boomerang.

Baroness Blitzkrieg turned, but wasn’t quick enough and it slashed across her stomach, cutting deep. She stumbled and fell, clutching her bleeding stomach.

“Oh crap! Roy! I need help!” Owen rushed to her side, trying to wrack his brain for any half remembered medical training slash advise.

“Owen, wait!”

Captain Boomerang had just begun to take his jacket off, to apply pressure to her wound, when the Baroness grabbed him by the throat and hissed something in German.

But before she could spill any blood, a blunt tipped arrow smacked upside her head.

“Watch yourself!”

Captain Boomerang grabbed a weapon from his belt, and threw it with all the speed her could muster. The weapon went flying at Red Arrow, coming within an inch of his ear before flying past and smashing Gunda upside the head with enough strength to knock her for a loop.

“You too!”

oooOOooo

“Alright, enough playing around,” Damage grabbed Terence by the hair and pulled him up, while keeping his feet pressed on the young man’s ankles. The Terror Twin was bleeding from the mouth, and was barely conscious after the beating Damage had given him, “where’s Baron Blitkrieg?”

“Go to hell, I… ain’t no snitch.”

Damage, still holding Terence by the hair, released a burst of energy from his hand. Terence’s head was pitched forward like a cannonball, and he smashed face first into the ground, breaking solid rock with his skull.

Terence, his head spinning, felt a flood of fear wash over him when Damage leaned down, and this time grabbed his head with both hands.

“How about now?”

“Now, his Baron rescues him.”

A light exploded behind Damage’s eyes. Stumbling, the young hero felt another blow to his stomach, and two powerful blows that came down on his shoulders.

“On your knees, dog, as it should be.”

Damage’s vision was swimming, but even so he was baffled why he couldn’t see anyone.

“Confused? Allow me to show you who has brought you so low.”

A man appeared out of nowhere. Damage recognized the old yellow costume and iron cross that was worn by Baron Blitzkrieg. But there was no iron mask, only a face. A familiar face, the face of a friend, a mentor.

Damage struggled to think, to understand what he saw before him. It couldn’t be, but it was…

“Arn? Arn Munro?”

oooOOooo

Batgirl bypassed the electronic lock on the ‘shed’ effortless. She listened for anyone inside, and when she heard nothing, she leapt down the metal staircase she’d found behind the door.

She found three things that, combined, filled the young heroine with more fear than she had ever felt before in her entire life.

First, the shed was used to conceal what she recognized as a level five bio-hazard lab. Batman and Oracle had long since taught her to recognize the difference between a facility meant to contain an outbreak, and one meant to cause one. The clues were subtle, but if you knew what to look for, there was no mistaking the two.

Second, it had been used. There was no dust to be found, and Batgirl could see where several beakers were still drying, and blood on the floor that couldn’t have been two days old.

And most terrifying it all, it was now empty.

It all added up to an unknown bio-weapon that by now, could be _anywhere_.

Next issue: Titans East vs. the new Baron Blitzkrieg, as an unknown threat lurks in the shadows! With countless lives in the balance, one of the most insecure Titans may have to save them all!

For my readers and Son of Vulcan, an explanation:

As I’ve stated elsewhere, Titans east is part of a group fanfiction site, and that’s where I draw my continuity, regardless of how active or inactive it is at the moment. Hence why Batman runs Checkmate in my Batgirl series.

Well, some other writers did a big crossover and in it, Vulcan killed a (mind controlled) Wonder Woman. I didn’t write it, but at the same time I can’t ignore it. I gotta deal with it, and I will. Hopefully there won’t be any questions when I’m done, and there are, include them in the review!


	3. Chapter 3

**& &&**

**DC Infinity Presents**

**Titans East**

**“Grounded in Failure”**

**Part 2**

**Issue 3**

**& &&**

_Then, before the Crisis, Freedom Fighter headquarters_

“Grant, do have you got a second, son?”

Grant Emerson, Damage, shot up from his couch and quickly changed the channel on his TV as if his life depended on it. He then stood up straight like he was a private in the army about to receive an inspection.

“What’s up, Uncle Sam?”

The mystical personification of the spirit of the United States, looking exactly those recruitment posters, walked into the room. Damage couldn’t help but glance at his TV, to make sure it was on anything but a reality show. Uncle Sam had particular ideas about reality television, and he was not shy about sharing them. When it came right down to it, being caught watching reality television by Uncle Sam was worst than being caught looking at porn by your parents.

“I need your help. We have an AWOL member that needs to be wrung out.”

“Okay sir,” Grant said, mostly on instinct. Uncle Sam was one of a handful of people Grant would never think of disobeying. Most would have attributed it to magic, but Damage knew better. Uncle Sam was a man who defined the myth, not a myth made man, “umm, who?”

“Munro,” Uncle Sam said. The man was always serious, but his tone was a more somber tone that Grant had only heard when Uncle Sam was discussing his fallen friends.

Some twelve minutes later, the two Freedom Fighters were in a dive bar. The bouncer actually stood at attention as Uncle Sam walked by, and the bartender nodded towards their wayward member the second he saw the two of them.

“Much obliged,” Uncle Sam tipped his hat, and strolled over to Munro.

The veteran hero was at the end of the bar, slumped over and nursing an entire pitcher, with a half dozen empty ones were sitting next to him just like empty beer bottles.

“Time to come home, Arn,” Uncle Sam said firmly. He laid a fatherly hand on Munro’s shoulder.

“You…don’t tell me what to do,” Munro batted Uncle Sam’s hand away, and stumbled.

“Don’t make me raise a hand, Munro,” said Uncle Sam, “don’t think we want Grant to see that, do we?”

“Grant…?” Munro looked at the young hero, then shook his head, “whatever. Fine, lets go.”

Munro stood up from his seat, took two steps, and then fell forward flat on his face.

Damage looked at Uncle Sam, then to Arn Munro.

“So…why am I here, and why did Arn get so drunk?” Grant asked, “I’ve barely see him touch a beer, like, ever.”

“You know about him and Phantom Lady, back in the 60s, right?” Uncle Sam picked up the five hundred pound metahuman under one shoulder, and hauled him to his feet, “about what happened to their kid?”

“Yeah, Arn told me about it,” said Grant. When he was searching for his real parents, for a time he thought that Arn Munro could have been him. Even now, Grant secretly wished he had been. At least Arn was still alive, “Baron Blitzkrieg captured his wife, Phantom Lady when she was on a mission, and she was pregnant at the time. And, ya know…”

Grant’s voice trailed off. He wasn’t much comfortable discussing how an infant was stolen from their mother while they were still wet. The subject just brought up too many raw emotions, made all the worse because that was exactly what had happened to him.

“Today’s the kid’s birthday,” Uncle Sam sighed, “Arn doesn’t do well on days like today.”

“But why’d you bring me along, sir?”

Uncle Sam actually smiled, “He used to do a whole lot worse, before you came around, son.”

“Wait, what?”

“You gave him hope, Grant, and just because he’s not your pa doesn’t mean he’s not proud of you like one all the same.”

_Now_

Damage looked at the man dressed in the uniform of the Nazi villain Baron Blitzkrieg, but bore the face of his mentor and one-time teammate, Arn Munro and wanted to vomit. He’d finally found the man’s long lost son. He could give the man he respected as a father figure closure.

But he had to beat the crap out of his long lost son first.

“Munro?” said the new Baron Blitkrieg, “don’t be insulting. My blood is pure!”

“Don’t believe that bullshit!” Damage snapped. His hands began to burn, but he somehow managed to keep his temper in check, “you were kidnapped as a baby! Your real parents are Arn Munro and Phantom Lady, your real name is…!”

Baron Blitzkrieg smirked, “Yes?”

“Damn it, it doesn’t matter!” Damage said, “you don’t have to do this!”

“What, wiping out inferior races? Fulfilling my father’s dream?”

“He’s not your father!” Damage threw himself at the Baron, but it was a sloppy, predictable lunge. A single right cross was all it took to knock Damage on his ass.

But Damage was not one to stay down.

oooOOooo

Red Arrow saw four heavily armed men making their way towards him, and acting almost entirely on instinct he selected the tear gas arrow from his quiver, notched the arrow and sent it flying through the air. It crashed to earth seconds later, and the four men found themselves consumed in a cloud of gas.

The immediate threat dealt with, Red Arrow scanned the battlefield, and liked what he saw. His team was acting like a team, with Red Star and Miss Martian handling the Terror Twins, Steel keeping Heatmonger occupied, Captain Boomerang was actually keeping White Dragon on the defensive, while Aqualad and Ravager kept Gundra busy. With Golden Eagle, Baroness Blitzkrieg and Ubermensch already out of commission, his team had Axis America on the ropes.

In fact, as best Red Arrow could tell, the only member of his team having any real trouble was the one member who shouldn’t have had any at all.

“Grant! Get it together!” Red Arrow shouted, “we need to wrap this up!”

“Roy, shut up, I’m handling this!” Damage said, before a solid hit to the jaw knocked him back. Damage wiped his chin, and fought the instinct to atomize the Baron.

“Attention Titans. Terrorists…armed with bio weapon. On the move.”

When Batgirl’s voice came over the radio, everyone froze.

“Oh hell,” Steel muttered.

“I can tell from the look on your face, even through that mask, that you’ve stumbled across my gift for the lessers,” Baron Blitzkrieg smiled.

“What is it?!” Damage demanded, “what did you have?”

“Simply a gift from a long time supporter of our Reich,” said Baron Blitzkrieg, “he gave us two gifts, one we will leave with you.”

Baron Blitzkrieg pressed a button on his belt, and in a flash of light he and Axis America disappeared.

“A teleporter?” Red Arrow slapped his head, “where the hell did this two bit operation get a teleporter from?”

“They ain’t far, boss,” Steel began scanning the area. He Uncle John had once told her that teleportation radiation was a lot like a tunnel, and always left two points of contact, “there!”

Steel pointed east, towards a canopy of trees, just as a state of the art Blackbird shot into the air.

“Are you sure?” said Captain Boomerang.

oooOOooo

Miguel Devante, Vulcan, had his arms crossed over one another as he lay on the consul of the T-Jet, looking at the pure, uncorrupted nature of West Virginia with an odd mixture of contempt and relief. Part of him wanted to be out there, fighting alongside his teammates, but an even bigger part of him was terrified that he’d make a mistake, somehow screw up even worse than he’d already done.

“You know, you weren’t left behind because Roy didn’t trust you,” Flamebird said, as she rested in the pilot’s seat.

“He doesn’t trust me not to burn down half the state,” Vulcan deadpanned.

“Well, I meant he trusts you personally,” Flamebird said, “lets be honest, you’re still pretty inexperienced. But I was referring to the fact that Roy trusts you personally. No one here is a pity case.”

**The female lies. You are unworthy of the Vulcan line.**

“Shut up already!” Vulcan shot up as he shouted, “why the hell can’t you just leave me alone?”

Vulcan then turned to Flamebird, and suddenly wished he could just cease to exist.

“Dios, I don’t mean you. I have this voice in my head…” Vulcan slapped his forehead when he said that out loud.

“Praetor, right?” said Flamebird, “don’t worry about it. Looker filled us in on everything. We know you’re not hearing things. Well, that aren’t there.”

“He just…really gets under my skin, you know?” Vulcan sighed, “you don’t know what it’s like to have someone always telling you you’re not good enough, not smart enough…”

“I have an idea,” Flamebird said, “I didn’t put on a costume because my parents were killed in an alley, or because I came from an alien world. I did it because I saw a challenge, and because I really, really wanted to meet Robin.”

“…wait, what?” Vulcan couldn’t help but ask. He’d read so much about so many heroes, and while few gave the exact details of their origin, all of them alluded to massive, life changing events that left them unable to turn away from the greater good. That someone had become a heroine because she was a fangirl…went against Vulcan’s expectations to say the least.

“Yup, it was that simple for me. And after a while, you know what he told me?”

“What?”

“Nightwing said that I wasn’t good enough, that I didn’t have what it takes to make it as a crimefighter,” Flamebird leaned back in her chair, looked up and smiled, “it’s not the same as a voice constantly tearing you down, but when one of the best heroes in the world tells you to take a hike, it stings. Trust me.”

“So what did you do?”

“I got angry,” Flamebird said, “then I knew that was only going to cause trouble, so I decided to prove him wrong, carefully. And eventually, he came to me to help lead this team. Take it from me, sometimes the voices saying you can’t can be just as powerful as the voices cheering you on.”

“I…”

“Red Arrow to Flamebird! We’ve got a runner! Like, all of them!”

Flamebird snapped to attention, and her hands flew over the controls.

“I got them on the sensors, but not the radar. Need a pick up?”

Flamebird heard a loud explosion.

“Arrow, you there? I didn’t copy!”

Nothing.

“Well Vulcan,” Flamebird activated the turbines, and the jet took off into the air, “you may see some action after all.” 

oooOOooo

Red Arrow took a step back as five men, standing six feet tall and bloated with muscle, strolled forward. They had come crashing down out of the air like meteors, more concerned about making an impression than any tactical advantage.

Which, in a way, Red Arrow saw that as a plus. These five were drunk on power, which meant they had no experience with it.

“You guys are about to have a knuckle sandwich taste of Captain Nazi’s formula!” said Nazi Thug 1 (Red Arrow didn’t much care about their names. They were distractions, meant to keep them from following, so he wasn’t about to give them any more attention than he absolutely had to, and that included names).

“Red Star, take Captain Dialogue there,” Red Arrow ordered.

The Russian hero slammed into the first man like a missile, and the two became entangled with fists flying.

“Hey jerk!”

Steel swooped down and swung her hammer, catching the second one in the chin. He stumbled, but then fell like a cut tree.

“Hey, spook in a can!” Nazi Thug 3 took to the air, and reached for Steel’s neck, only to have Miss Martian slam into him from behind.

“You leave my friend alone,” Miss Martian’s eyes glowed, and Nazi Thug 3 was thrown back by a telekinetic wave.

“Come on, bring it!” Nazi Thug 4 recognized Damage’s costume as being affiliated with the Golden Age Atom. It was the closest his fists had ever been to a member of the Justice Society, and he wasn’t about to let it slip away.

“Arrrh!”

Damage had no witty banter, no smart remarks. He just filled his hands with energy, and swung his fist into the Thug’s gut. The energy that was on the tip of his hands released on impact, multiplying the power of an already powerful fist, until it was like a bomb exploding right in the felon’s gut.

Nazi Thug 4 fell to one knee, vomited blood, and looked up only to see Damage bringing his fist down again.

Nazi Thug 5, compared to the others, had it far easier. Red Arrow shot him in the mouth with a gas arrow, and then Aqualad covered his head with a bubble of water, choking off all his air.

By the time the last Thug had hit the ground, he was followed by the first, and the rest followed in short order. The team gathered around Red Arrow instinctively, unsure of what to do next.

“Good work, team,” Red Arrow ran his hand through his hair and breathed a sigh of relief.

“We ain’t done yet,” Steel said, “the main bad guys got away, these losers are just cannon fodder!”

“Guys!” Captain Boomerang pointed towards the main compound, and they could see five more men, all juiced up on Captain Nazi formula.

“Yeah, we definitely ain’t done yet,” Steel said, “boss man, I figure they can’t use that formula like the real deal. Otherwise, why wait? So lets sweat ‘em out.”

“Sounds like a plan,” said Red Arrow.

Miss Martian gasped as she saw the other five heading towards them. She could feel their hate and rage as if it were a physical thing.

“Read my mind,” Nazi Thug 1, blood dribbling from the mouth, smiled, “and see what my friends are gonna do to all of you.”

Miss Martian did. The thoughts went beyond disgusting.

But she didn’t flinch.

“That won’t happen,” Miss Martian slammed the Thug into the ground with a burst of telekinetic energy, and then flew towards the incoming five like a cannonball.

“You will never!”

Miss Martian grew four arms and pummeled the first one unconscious in the blink of an eye.

“Hurt my friends!” 

Energy leapt from Miss Martian’s eyes and slammed into three of the soldiers like a freight train, leaving only one very stunned nazi.

“Pete…” The last Nazi watched in horror as his friend (and more) fell from the sky, unconscious. The way his limp body fell, he was convinced that Pete was dead, though he was far from the truth.

“You…”

Miss Martian had her hands over her eyes.

“To hell with your teammates, I’ll kill you!”

“You…” Miss Martian, her head and eyes wracked with pain, could barely keep her telepathy in check, “you love h…”

Miss Martian grunted as the thug smashed into her, and his fist connected with her skull. The blow sent her rocketing to the ground, and the Thug landed atop of her like a missile.

“I don’t care about the rest of your freaks friends,” he tightened his grip around Miss Martian’s neck, “Just. You!”

Miss Martian struggled, unable to bring forth the strength break free, the focus to phase or concentration to smash the man with a telekinetic blast. She could barely muster the will to care.

“Drop her!”

Red Star and Damage crashed into the Thug opposite one another, sandwiching him between their powerful bodies. The thug’s grip on Miss Martian disappeared, and he stumbled as his vision began to blur.

“I won’t let you hurt her again!” Damage snarled, and backhanded the man with such power that it dislocated the man’s jaw. Damage grabbed the man by the neck with one hand, and drew his fist back again, before Red Star caught it by the wrist.

“Enough,” said Red Star.

“Not even close,” Damage yanked his arm free, but allowed the man to fall unconscious.

“Titans, form up!” Red Arrow shouted.

“So what now?” asked Ravager.

“Obviously, we follow Axis America and bring them to justice!” snapped Aqualad.

“I meant, how do we follow them?” said Ravager through gritted teeth, “I’d bet that Flamebird and Vulcan are chasing them right now since they aren’t here picking us up, which means we don’t have a ride!”

“Calm down,” said Red Arrow.

“There’s no way I’m fast enough to follow,” Captain Boomerang said, “you weren’t expecting me to, were you?”

“I can’t fly fast enough neither,” said Steel.

“Then what…?”

“Enough!” Red Arrow shouted, “calm down and listen!”

“Hey…where’s Batgirl?” Ravager looked around, “I haven’t seen her the entire fight.”

Ravager nearly jumped out of her skin when a nearby cabin exploded in an orange ball of flame and heat.

“Someone had to destroy their super soldier serum,” said Batgirl as she strolled towards her teammates, “intel, get…any?”

Red Arrow shook his head, “Not yet. We’ll rouse one, and Miss Martian can pick his brain.”

“I…don’t think I’ll be able too,” Miss Martian said softly.

Red Arrow looked at the young alien, and what he saw made his stomach flip. Her eyes were like gaping, smoldering holes.

“What happened?” Damage was at her side in moments, arms around Miss Martian to help her stand.

“My eyes…aren’t formed properly,” Miss Martian explained, “if I channel energy through them, it…it’s not good for my body. I’m considered inferior on my world…”

“Well, screw them,” Damage said without hesitation, “you brought down all those bastards all on your own, that ain’t inferior.”

“But if she can’t tell us where they’re heading, we’re still screwed then,” Captain Boomerang said.

“Hey!” Damage snapped.

“Not an issue,” Batgirl said. She reached into her belt, and removed a smelling salt, “Red Star, Steel, grab one.”

When her teammates had one of the Nazi Thugs secured, Batgirl snapped the salt under his nose, and he snapped awake.

“Uh, you scum!” The man roared, but Steel and Red Star held him easily.

“You have a bio-weapon,” Batgirl said as a matter of fact, “disease?”

“Of course!” The nazi spat.

_Lie._

“Do you have a pre-selected target?”

“I’d never tell you!”

 _Yes_.

“Do you know where the target is?”

“Of course. But I’d rather die than tell you! We all would!”

 _No_.

“They have a nerve agent with a pre-selected location,” Batgirl said to Red Arrow, “he doesn’t know the target.”

“There’s an ICE holding facility about a hundred miles from here,” Red Arrow said, “Farmville Detention in Virginia.”

“So…?” Ravager asked

“So it’d be the perfect place for them to hit,” Red Arrow said, “it’s a detention facility so making it hard to get away in time from the nerve agent and you can kill Federal agents and illegal immigrants. Two birds, one sick stone.”

“You know the minds of villains well!” Aqualad observed.

“In this business, it’s a trick you pick up,” replied Red Arrow.

“Well, that’s all well and good, but how do we stop them?” said Steel, “Vulcan and Flamebird are in our ride!”

Batgirl smiled.

oooOOooo

“This is going to suck, isn’t it?”

“Yup,” Flamebird nodded, “we might have been able to follow them, but we’re still a good ten minutes behind them, which means they’ve had time to set up. And that means we’ll have to split up.”

Vulcan gulped.

“I know, it’s not an appealing idea,” Flamebird said as the ICE facility came into view. The two Titans saw Axis America outside the facility, swatting aside Federal agents like bowling pins.

“Batgirl said they had a bio-weapon,” Flamebird brought the T-Jet down over the facility, and opened the bay door, “chances are they’ll release it inside, killing the people in the holding facilities. You need to find it. I’d recommend starting at the broiler room.”

“Me?” Vulcan did a double take, “how?!”

“You’ll have to figure it out,” Flamebird said.

“What about you?”

“I’ve got to stall Axis America,” Flamebird replied. She reached up, and grabbed two looped steel cables from the ceiling, “here, put your foot inside like I’m doing. It’ll lower you to the roof.”

“Did I hear you right? Take on Axis America by yourself? But they’d kill you!”

“You let me worry about that,” Flamebird said, before she leapt. Vulcan saw her repelling down the line, and mustered his courage, muttering, “this is insane…”

oooOOooo

“This! Is! Insane!” Steel shouted, mostly for her own sake than anyone else’s.

No one could hear, not when she was hanging onto the wing of a plane at Mach-2.

She and Miss Martian gripped the left wing, while Damage and Aqualad gripped the right wing. Steel was mildly surprised that a guy who lived under the sea could comfortably hang off the wing of a plane, but he managed somehow.

The rest of the team, Red Arrow, Captain Boomerang, Ravager and Batgirl were in the cockpit that was built for only two people.

“Stop. Pushing. Me,” Batgirl warned.

“I don’t mean to!” Ravager defended, “Owen’s grabbing my ass!”

“I am not!” Captain Boomerang snapped, “your big butt is jamming my razor-rang into my hip!”

“My ass isn’t big, and that’s not a weapon that’s poking me!” Rose snapped.

“I’m not…!”

“Enough!” Red Arrow sighed, “can we try to retain some dignity?”

“Tell that to Captai…”

The Batwing did a barrel roll, and Captain Boomerang and Ravager smacked into the side of the canopy.

“Airpocket,” Batgirl said in the least convincing manner possible.

“Whee!” said Miss Martian, while Steel wanted to throw up.

“This never happened to the Justice League,” Red Arrow sighed.

oooOOooo

**You will fail. You have habit.**

“Shut up,” Vulcan muttered to the voice in his head. He was making his way through the Detention Cells, looking for anything that might give him a clue as to where Axis America placed their weapon, but he was coming up empty.

All he was managing to find was countless unconscious Federal agents, and probably hundreds of fellow Hispanics begging him to release them.

“Amigo! I see that tan, let us out, man!”

“Please, I have to see my son!”

“I never hurt anyone, kid! Please, I have to provide for my family!”

Each and every cry for help for like a needle in the back of Vulcan’s head. His heart went out to each and every one of them, but his head ping-ponged. Were they actually innocent? If they were, would releasing them be the right thing to do? Would that cause trouble for his friends?

Vulcan had questions, but he had no idea what the answers might be.

“…kid…”

Vulcan snapped his head to the side, and saw an overweight middle aged man with a bad hair piece stagger towards him.

“Sir!” Vulcan rushed to the man’s side, and gently helped sit him on the floor, “are you okay?”

“…no,” the man gripped his side, “lost…a few ribs.”

“I’ll get help!” Vulcan said instinctively.

**Where, boy? There are no medical technicians here.**

“Shut! Up!” Vulcan snapped again.

The man with the bad hair piece gave Vulcan an odd look.

“Sorry,” Vulcan gave a fake smile.

“…two of them,” the man wheezed, and pointed down the hall, “broiler room. Got something…nasty.”

“I’m on it,” Vulcan broke into a run, then stopped, “just…just hang on!”

“…not planning on going anywhere,” said the man. He did everything he could not to pass out until Vulcan was out of sight, “…go be a hero, kid.”

oooOOooo

“How did I get myself into this mess?” Flamebird asked herself.

She found herself surrounded by Axis America, who regarded much in the same way that a cat regarded a mouse. A mouse with a broken leg, missing eye and half a tail yet still refused to cower.

“Heatmonger,” Baron Blitzkrieg looked at Flamebird with equal parts amusement and disgust, “help this deluded thing live up to her name.”

Heatmonger stepped forward and unleashed a torrent of flame towards Flamebird. Bette leapt out of the way, the flame licking at her cape.

“Did you really think you could pull this off?” Heatmonger scoffed, “those parasites will be dead in minutes, you’ll be dead even sooner and we’ll be long gone before your Titan friends even get here. What did you think you were doing?”

Flamebird tapped the side of her goggles, and a blinding burst of light exploded outwards. Heatmonger saw spots, and before she could clear her eyes, a bolo wrapped around her and delivered twenty thousand volts.

“What I put this costume on to do, the right thing,” Flamebird replied.

Baron Blitzkrieg rolled his eyes as he stepped forward, “Stupid. Noble, but stupid. Do you have any idea how infuriating it is to see someone so superior acting so inferior?”

“Can’t say that I do,” Flamebird said, “as I don’t really see anyone as inferior. But I wasn’t acting stupid…”

The sound of a sonic boom filled the air.

“I was stalling.”

High in the sky, Batgirl pressed a button, and the missile silo to the Batplane opened, and released a single salvo.

Flamebird spun on her heels and ran. She just barely made it behind a damaged cop car, when something loud and heavy landed in the middle of Axis America.

“I’m Russian. You are Nazis,” Red Star growled, smoke rising from the impact of his crash, “where do you really think this will end?”

Baron Blitzkrieg, Gundra, White Dragon and Ubermensch came crashing down on Red Star as one. And when a roar, Red Star swept his arms outwards and pushed them all back.

“Flamebird, what’s the situation?”

Bette breathed a sigh of relief when she saw Red Arrow and the rest of her team.

“These guys are trying to distract from the bomb they have inside,” Flamebird said, “I sent Vulcan after it, but I’ve got no idea if he’s even found the thing!”

“Crap,” Red Arrow muttered, “judging from the roster, it has to be the Terror Twins guarding it. The kid might not be able to take them.”

“It was either send him after the bomb, or have him out here,” Flamebird said.

“I know,” Red Arrow ran his hand through his hair. He looked at Red Star, and saw how his friend was throwing himself up against four superhumans without a care for his own safety, almost relishing the punishment they were dishing out.

It was time to be a leader.

“Damage, Aqualad, Miss Martial, Steel,” Red Arrow shouted, “lets give Red Star a hand.”

“To battle!” Aqualad shouted, and then tripped over his own two feet. His ears popped, and he felt as if he might throw up at any given moment. He watched helplessly as his teammates rushed into the fight without him, “…I’ll be along in a moment.”

“Boomerbutt, keep an eye out for the Baroness bitch, and take her out if you see her! Batgirl, Ravager, find Vulcan!”

Batgirl and Ravager gave each other a sideways glance as they dashed into the building.

“Titans go!” Red Arrow smirked, as his team sprang into action. Maybe things weren’t off to as bad a start as he thought they were.

oooOOooo

Vulcan slammed into the wall, his armor being the only thing that spared his life.

“Ya know sis, it’s funny,” Terrence of the Terror Twins remarked, “with that flame o’ his, I bet this kid would have survived that weapon thing just fine. But here, he ain’t got a chance.”

“Don’t be mean to the kid,” Theresa chided, “just knock him out or somethin’. He ain’t no mouse, and you ain’t no cat.”

“Alright, alright,” Terrence sighed.

Vulcan activated his wrist shield just as the first Terror Twin was about to grab him by the neck. Terrence grabbed the sides of the force field, and pushed it backwards, slamming Vulcan against the wall.

“Come on, kid, make this easy.”

“Never!” Vulcan knew it was hardly A class banter, but this was still one of his first fights. He poured his will into his flame, but Terrence just chuckled.

“Gotta do better than that,” Terrence said, “I’ve barely broken a sweat.”

**He will kill you.**

“Shut up!” Vulcan growled.

“Sorry kid, it’s just the truth,” Terrence squeezed the force field tighter, and he could feel it beginning to fray.

**They are too much for you. The Vulcan line will end. That cannot be allowed.**

“Then help me!” Vulcan’s tears of anger turned to steam instantly. He was running out of words, out of concepts to describe just how much he hated having the Praetor in his head, but it stung so much deeper now that the thing would belittle him in the middle of a fight.

**Dig deep inside yourself. Touch the true flame of the Vulcan. I will help.**

“How…?” Vulcan’s voice trailed off, as his felt his flame change. Before, even when his flame was burned like a raging inferno, Miguel barely felt anything.

But now, as his flame burned unlike anything before, Vulcan felt _hot_.

“What the hell?”

Terrence pulled his hand back, searing in agony.

**Fire burns, but the fire of Vulcan, of the forge, transforms.**

“What’s going on?” Vulcan looked at his hands, baffled.

**Fuel surrounds you. Use it. The line of fire will guide you.**

Vulcan saw the bio-weapon, a silver pyramid like devise, resting near the broiler in the corner behind the twins. He sent a wave of consuming fire at the devise, and the flame washed over it, but not a single nut melted or a piece of glass crack.

Instead, everything, metal and chemical weapon both, disappeared into the flame in a burst of smoke, and suddenly Vulcan felt a wave of strength flowing through his body.

“What the heck did you do?” Terrence looked at Vulcan, then to the devise, in disbelief.

When he looked back, Vulcan’s fist met his face, and the male Terror Twin was thrown backwards, through several walls.

Vulcan looked at his hand, barely able to believe what happened, “Whoa…”

**The fire of the Vulcan can change and strengthen over time.**

“No one hurts my brother!” Theresa screamed as she lunged for Vulcan.

Without thinking, Vulcan lashed out with his new flame, and Theresa screamed.

The second Terror Twin fell to the ground, her body covered in burns.

“Oh God, not again…,” Vulcan fell to his knees, “why…?”

“Vulcan, you okay?”

Ravager and Batgirl stepped into the room, and looked at the damage.

“We have to get a medic!” Vulcan shot up, “I…I think I killed her!”

Batgirl rushed to Theresa’s side, and looked her over, “She’ll live.”

“…how can you be certain?”

“They see a lot of weird stuff in Gotham. Come on, kid,” Ravager motioned for Vulcan to follow her, “we need to get you looked at. Batgirl, you coming?”

“In a moment,” Batgirl removed what looked like a modified mace bottle from her belt. She shook it up, and pointed it at Theresa.

“Hey, what the hell?” Ravager grabbed Batgirl’s wrist, and pointed the device away, “I’m not a doctor, but I know you’re not too! What are you doing?”

“It’s for burns,” Batgirl growled.

“What, you carry that around everywhere?”

Batgirl pulled her wrist free, “I read the mission brief. Brought it in case Heatmonger got lucky. And this isn’t…my first burn victim.”

“Fine!” Ravager through her hand up, “anything goes wrong, don’t blame me!”

oooOOooo

_Later, outside_

“So, to summarize the good we did today, we brought down an evil team of Nazis…”

“Isn’t evil kinda implied by Nazi?”

“Shut up, Rose,” Red Arrow said, “…destroyed their experimental super soldier formula along with a stockpile of weapons, and saved hundreds of innocent lives. We did a lot of good today.”

Vulcan watched two gurneys being loaded into ambulances. The first one held Theresa. The second one held an overweight middle aged man, with the sheet pulled over his head.

“Are…the people in the building going home?” Miss Martian asked. She pointed towards the Detention Center, “I can sense their longing. They’re so sad…”

“No sweetie,” Flamebird said, “it’s…complicated.”

“And Baron Blitzkrieg?” Damage asked, “what happens to him now?”

“The DEO takes him into custody,” Red Arrow said, “I know he was kidnapped as a baby, but he’s an adult now, Grant.”

Grant looked away, not even trying to disguise his disapproval.

“Well, I dunno you guys, but I’m tired and hungry,” Captain Boomerang said, “lets get home and take advantage of the fact that we live in freakin’ New York. Anyone else?”

“Sounds good to me,” Ravager said.

“I wish to learn more of your food called pizza,” Aqualad said.

“Agreed then!” Flamebird clapped her hands, and began to herd the Titans towards the jet. Only Red Arrow observed how Batgirl and Damage remained apart.

“You two going to join us?” asked Red Arrow.

“I have to get the Batplane back,” Batgirl said.

“I need to see a friend,” Damage said.

“Suit yourself,” Red Arrow made his way towards the jet. He sighed heavily. Batgirl and Damage were the most experienced members of the team short of the senior members, but the more they stayed apart, the less reliable they became.

oooOOooo

_Titans Tower_

Rose locked her door the moment she stepped inside. What she was about to do next, she couldn’t risk Lian or Bette barging in and discovering her.

Rose went into her bathroom, and opened a bottle of pills. She swallowed them dry, and then removed a small throwing dagger from her belt.

“This is the only way,” Rose said aloud, trying to convince herself to go through with it. No matter how she wracked her brain, she couldn’t think of another way.

Ravager held the blade to her wrist. Her remaining eye was wet, but she didn’t hesitate as she drove the blade into her flesh, “This is the only way.”

oooOOooo

_Later, DEO Detention Center_

Grant sat in the waiting room of the detention, rubbing his hands nervously. 

“Grant?”

Damage looked up, and saw his old friend, Arn Munro enter the room. Resting against him was a woman of advanced years, but Grant could see a backbone of steel in her. It took him a moment to place her as Sandra Knight, the first Phantom Lady.

“Is it true? Is it really…him?”

Grant nodded sadly, “Yeah. I called in a favor and had ‘em do a DNA test. Arn, I’m sorry I couldn’t do more.”

“Grant,” Sandra gently placed her hand over Grant’s, “you found our son. That’s more than anyone could ever have asked of you. Thank you. No matter what happens now, thank you for finding our boy.”

“I…you’re welcome,” Grant watched numbly as the two heroes went into the meeting area, and reflected on what had happened.

After decades, a kidnapped child was reunited with parents who loved him, accepted him no matter what. Damage couldn’t help but wonder why it couldn’t have been him.

Next Issue: Get a look at life at Titans Tower, while the team takes on a new threat, the deadly Syndication!


End file.
